Thriving Insanity
by Kittany
Summary: [FOREVER UNFINISHED] RJ is your normal teen... that is, until the death of his Aunt, Amy. What follows is a whirling twister of events involving suicide, family issues, abuse, and... the voices...


Thriving Insanity

An alarm clock screamed as a blue arm lunged out, turning it off. Then he rose. His light blue fur was ruffled and messy and his eyes were just opening; now blinded by the sun.

"Ugh… why do I have to wake up…" he hid under his pillow. Just then, a figure leaped into the room and plopped onto the boy's bed.

"Hey! The sun's up! Get up! Get up! The sun's up!"

He groaned, "Dad! Get off!"

The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes and jumped off the bed, "How could someone like me end up having such a lazy son?"

"I'm not lazy! I'm tired! Lemme sleep!"

"RJ! Up!" Sonic cried, flipping over RJ's mattress, knocking the teen onto the floor.

"Ok! I'm up!" RJ said, annoyed. He stood up and slipped into his clothes. He then faced his father, a very pissed-off expression on his face, "Now that I'm up at 7:00 am on a weekend, what is it you want me to clean?"

Sonic made an appalled face, "I'm shocked that you think just because I wanted to spend time with my son, I should be accused of wanting you to work! Besides, it's your mother that told me to wake you up…"

"That's right!" Loretta's voice rang from the kitchen, "RJ! I need you to help me with spring chores!"

"Oh all right…" RJ said, most unhappily.

Sonic sighed, "And if you finish up at exactly noon, I'll let you visit you Aunt, okay?"

RJ broke into a smile, "Yea! Okay!" He then ran into the closet.

Both his parents exchanged worried glances. "Uhm… Honey? That's a closet…" Loretta said.

RJ fell out, "I know! I was getting the cleaning shit!"

Loretta giggled, "RJ… no cussing in the house…"

RJ sighed, "Fine…" Then he went to work.

A few hours later, noon arrived and the chores were done.

"Now can we go to Auntie's house? Please, please, please, please, please, please, please!" RJ begged.

"What is it with you and her house?" Sonic asked.

"Free candy!" RJ cheered. Loretta rolled her eyes.

"You'll get fat eating all that candy…"

"No I won't! And to prove it, I'll run to her house. Dad can follow of course."

"Uh…" Sonic said, "Don't I get a say in this? You know I can't keep up as well anymore…"

"Because you've gotten fat... You could use the exercise…" Loretta stated, rolling her eyes again.

Sonic pouted, "I'm not fat… I'm just not as quick as I was before I married you. With no need to avoid being chased, I can relax more."

"Aunt Amy says she once chased you all the way across the continent!" RJ said.

Sonic said nothing, but whapped RJ on the head. "You know, if I had tripped," He whispered, "Amy would be your Mom instead of your favorite Aunt. But never tell Amy or your mother that…"

RJ laughed, "I won't… Now let's go!"

"Oh! Hello RJ! Hi Sonic! How nice to see you again!" Amy said, opening the door, "Come on in!"

"I'd like to stay Amy," Sonic said, "But Loretta expects me back."

Amy nodded as Sonic ran off and then turned to RJ, "That woman has Sonic on leash. He's almost like a trained seal…"

RJ laughed and Amy tossed him a candy bar, "By the way, Sophitia is here too."

"Ugh…" RJ groaned, looking over at his older cousin. She sat on the couch in the living room.

"Oh! Hi Lil' RJ!" She said, smiling.

"Quit calling me that. I ain't that much younger…"

"A year is a lot more than you think. I could talk before you could even walk." Sophitia pointed out.

"No way!"

"Yeah! Only because you didn't walk till you were 4."

"It's not my fault!"

"Yes it is, baby cuz!"

"Don't call me that!"

RJ pouted, but the Amy broke in, "No need for you two to fight now! Your parents would kill me if they knew you two hated each other. Can't you just be friends?"

"Nope." They both said. Amy sighed.

"Well, I have to go anyway," Sophitia said, "I'll leave you two to talk. Bye Auntie Amy!" Sophitia ran over and gave Amy a hug, then took off.

"Good… she's gone..." RJ said, relieved.

"Why do you hate her so much?"

"I only pretend to hate her because she pretends to hate me." RJ confessed, "We only do it to bug our parents. Don't tell them I said that."

"You know me, RJ. I never tell your parents anything unless you want me to. Like when Sophitia wanted me to tell her mother she was worried her father was cheating on her. I still don't know what to think of that myself though…"

"I don't think Uncle Miles would cheat on Aunt Candy. I mean, geeze, if she weren't my Aunt and so much older, I'd date her."

Amy whapped RJ across the forehead with two fingers as she usually did.

"Ow! Why do you do that?"

"I saw it on TV..."

"Oh…"

There was a slight pause.

"Uhm… Auntie Amy?" RJ asked.

"Yes, RJ?"

"Dad told me today that… there was a chance that you could've been my mom instead of… well, Mom. I was just curious to know… if you still liked Dad that way? I mean, since Uncle AJ left…"

"Drop it, RJ…"

"But---"

Amy sighed, "Well… if you must know…"

"Yeah?"

Amy burst outward, "I practically drool over him! I'm glad he didn't stay here today or I might've done something rational! I'm so alone out here… no one lives really close by, and I'm basically non-existent when no one is visiting. Of course, I know I can't have him with your mother being there and I don't want to hurt our friendship…"

There was a long uneasy silence.

Amy looked down, "Who am I kidding… your mother hates me and has wanted to have me put down since the day we met… and even more since AJ left and I've gone single…"

RJ looked at his Aunt, wide eyed. He'd always been the one Amy would ask things. How he's doing in school, his social life, his love life. But never, NEVER, has he ever tried to ask Amy anything.

'She's CRAZY!' he recalled his mother saying before, 'It isn't right for him to go over there so much!'

'Hey! She's still our friend whether you like her or not!' Sonic had argued, 'She has no one left, and you know it! Since that turncoat joined back with Eggman, there has been no one to comfort Amy! RJ is like the only person she can talk to!'

'Well if you think that why don't you go MARRY her? It's obvious you care more about her than me!'

RJ shivered. He was 10 when that fight had taken place. It had been the worst day of his life, and it was his birthday! He had wanted to go over to Amy's to have his party and his mother had forbid it.

"RJ? You okay?" Amy asked.

RJ looked up, "Yeah…"

"I'm sorry for saying that. It wasn't my place to say anything of that sort."

"No… you have to let out you problems, like you told me before. Otherwise they get bottled up and you go crazy."

Amy nodded, "That's right…"

Just then, a cracking noise echoed from outside. Amy jumped and RJ stood up, "What was that?"

"I don't know… no one lives out here and… RJ! Where are you going?" Amy asked as RJ began to walk outside.

"I'll go check it out. You wait in here, okay?"

Amy froze, then nodded, "All right… but you be careful."

RJ walked outside and looked around. Everything seemed normal, except…

"GOD NO!" Amy cried. RJ turned and bolted into the house.

"Auntie Amy! Are you alri---" He froze, and then ran, "No!" He cried, but it was too late. The figure whapped with the axe again and again, poor Amy being the main target. With one more whack, she was gone; her blood splattered all over.

"You poisoned my son with your pathetic babble! You knew it all along that you were trying to turn my kin against me! I hope your soul rests in hell!" The figure tried to whack them again, but the 14 year-old attacked them.

"You killed her! You killed her!" he shouted, pounding on their back. The figure turned too fast and knocked the flat edge of the bloodied axe on RJ's head, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Hours later, RJ woke. He lay in the same spot he'd been in, on the living room floor. He shut his eyes. _Let it be a dream… Let it be a dream…_ He looked over to the couch, where the remains of Amy still lay. It was such an awful sight it made RJ shake.

Then, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Cassandra. He remembered her very well as the family guardian. She looked down at him; "It'll be okay, RJ…"

RJ stood up. "I'm gonna be sick…" he moaned.

Cassandra pulled him to the restroom and he got sick all over in a garbage can. Cassandra didn't even flinch by the sight of it. She was always calm in situations like these, it seemed as if she'd seen so many, and she's grown used to it.

"What… happened…" RJ groaned.

"I was coming to warn Amy about intruders. I guess I was too late. I am sorry to have failed you…" Cassandra said in her formal type voice. RJ put his hand on her shoulder, to reassure her and get support to keep from falling over.

"It isn't your fault… it's mine… I should have stayed by her and then I could've fought them off better…"

Cassandra faced him, "RJ… can you remember who the attacker was?"

RJ thought for a minute. Everything was clear in his mind. The form the attacker took, the sound of Amy screaming, him trying all he could to fight off the attacker, but he could not recall the attacker's face!

"My head hurts…" RJ's hand flew up to his head. He pulled away in amazement to see his own glove drenched in blood. His eyes widened.

"You were hit fairly hard on the head, I'm glad there was no permanent damage."

"There's already been more damage than can be fixed..." RJ said sadly, tears trickling down his face.

Cassandra stood close to RJ, "I've seen many deaths in my life. I've fought in many battles and received many scars. But no scar can top the one given in the loss of a loved one."

RJ looked up at her. How true the words she spoke were. He wondered if she had lost her family in a way similar to this. Maybe, for no one really knows why Cassandra is here, except that she feels her duty is to protect us, like she's known us for a long time. Sure, she more considers Sophitia more than anyone else, but…

"RJ… I think you should go home to rest… You are fainting on your feet, boy."

RJ didn't answer. The events of today were spinning in his head. Was it really only a few hours ago did he look at his Aunt, alive and cheerful? He shivered. Cassandra looked, noticing he wouldn't make the trip home, so she lifted him up and carried him out. RJ got one last look at his Aunt's remains before passing into the realm of insanity.

"Oh god! RJ!" Sonic yelled upon opening the door to see Cassandra, drenched in blood, and RJ, the same. Loretta ran in a gasped.

"My baby!" She cried, clinging onto RJ, "What happened? Did that Amy do this?"

"Loretta!" Sonic said in shock.

"I knew that women had lost it! She can't be trusted!"

"She is right," Cassandra said, laying RJ onto the couch, "She can't BE trusted… for she is dead…"

Sonic went white, "What?"

"I had been going over there to warn Amy of a murderer, heading that way to kill her. But I had arrived too late. From what I can tell, RJ had tried to save her, but got a blow to the head and passed out. When I got there, I woke him up and he was fine for a while. I guess the trauma was too much for him… I mean," She looked them both in the eye, "He's already had more trauma than a normal child raised by GOOD parents do."

Loretta's eyes glared, "Are you insinuating that we are not good parents?"

"Loretta… calm down..." Sonic reasoned, trying to calm her down.

"You stay out of this!"

"No! You can't get all angry just beca--- ARG!" Sonic yelled, falling to the ground as Loretta slapped him.

"Don't you tell me what I can or can't do!" Loretta vented, her eyes now glowing in rage, "Now for you!" She lunged at Cassandra, who now had her sword drawn, ready to fight. They were about to make contact when…

"Stop it! Stop it right now!" RJ yelled.

Loretta's eyes returned to normal as she turned around, "Oh! RJ! You're awake! Are you okay?"

"No! I'm not okay! Cassandra was right! YOU ARE HORRIBLE PARENTS! I HATE YOU!" He then stormed off into his room, slamming the door. Loretta and Sonic stood in shock.

"RJ? Can I come in?" Sonic asked, cracking RJ's door slightly. RJ sat in his chair, a blank kind of stare on his face.

"Yes…" RJ, said. Something was wrong…

"Uhm… you… want to talk about what happened this afternoon?"

"No."

"Oh… okay… I'll just---"

"I wasn't talking about you."

Sonic stopped, "What?"

"When I said you were bad parents… I was talking to Mo--- I mean, Loretta…"

Sonic stood there, his eyes wide. "You don't mean that, RJ…. And she's you mother. You've always called her that."

"Not anymore. Now I shall call her Loretta, just like any acquaintances of hers."

"RJ… You're just mad… maybe after you feel better---"

"You don't get it, dad. I will never get better. I will be like this the rest of my life. Nothing can wash away the things I have witnessed, the sorrow I've felt, nor the blood on my hands…"

"RJ… Amy's death wasn't your fault. You tried your best—"

"…And it wasn't enough…"

Sonic was quiet, for there was nothing left to be said and he rose up and walked out his son's room.

A month of arrangements and sorrow passed and the weights on RJ's shoulders only grew. There seemed to be a light out up there as most would say. You'd talk to RJ, and he wouldn't respond for a few minutes. Sometimes he'd talk in those creepy tones that had no feeling or emotion inside. Finally, the voices began.

"RJ! RJ! Listen to me." A dark voice said, "I know what you're feeling. It's just you and me now, RJ."

"What?" RJ asked, "Who's there?"

"It's me, your darker side. Most people never hear the calls from hell like you are now, but that just means that you have released me."

"The call from where? Whoa… I've gone off the deep end…"

"Nonsense." A lighter voice said, "I'm a call from the heavens above. Amy misses you, RJ. She wants you to join her."

"But… how"

"Death of course," the dark side said sinisterly.

"Oh!" The lighter voice cried, "It'll be mighty painful!"

"That just adds to the fun, right RJ?"

"Yeah… maybe…"

"Well, go get Loretta's butcher knife and let's find out."

RJ nodded and went into the kitchen, hiding behind the table. Then, he went over to where Loretta was cutting up tonight's dinner. _I guess I won't be hungry…_ RJ thought, and snickered to himself. When Loretta wasn't looking, RJ took her knife she was using and bolted into his bedroom, where he held up the knife.

He grinned, admiring the work of the knife, a solid steel blade with gold plating. Then, he took it up to his neck.

"No," the light voice said, "Start small so if you like it, you can get more of it."

RJ agreed to this and moved it to his arm, where he sliced straight and true into his dark blue fur. Red oozed out of the wound and trickled down to his glove. It hurt so badly yet felt so good at the same time. He moved down and did it again, deeper this time. Again, that relieving pain surged through him. It felt as if his trouble were bleeding out of him.

Just then, it occurred to him that he was shaking. He looked down; his vision blurred, and saw a puddle of blood on the floor in front of him. He smiled, realizing it was all going to be over soon and he'd be able to see his favorite Aunt once more, and talk with her again...

Then it occurred to him what he was doing and that light finally turned on.

"What the hell am I doing?" he said, throwing the knife across the room. He fell back against his door, his good arm draped across the bad. He looked down, but saw nothing, only darkness. Then, he passed out.

"RJ! Son, can you hear me?" Sonic yelled, shaking his son, tears streaming down his face. The worst possible thing hit Sonic. _He's dead. Oh god he died! Please be okay… Please be okay…_

"D-dad?" RJ said, his voice was quiet and fading. RJ looked around. He was in a hospital bed. Sonic lay asleep, bent over RJ's bed, a worried expression on his face. He'd been so worried about him...

RJ then noticed a tear on Sonic's face and heard him mumbling to himself while he slept, "Please… be okay…. RJ…."

RJ sat up and laid his head on his father's hand. Tears dripped down his face, "I'm sorry Dad…" Then, he cried himself to sleep.

A week later and RJ was on his feet again. He'd lost 3 liters of blood; enough to have him killed. He was very lucky to have survived. Imagine if Sonic hadn't heard the clatter of the knife hit the floor…

RJ sat on the couch, his eyes staring at the TV, which happened to be turned off at the moment. He continued to stare anyway, thoughts burning in his mind. Sonic saw this and walked over, sitting beside him.

"You okay, RJ?" Sonic asked, lowering his dark sunglasses to look over at him.

"Hm? Oh... hi dad…" RJ said. He seemed kind of sad about something. Sonic sighed, waiting for an answer. After a minute or so, he replied, "I'm okay… really."

Then, things got weird, "Who are you kidding RJ. You feel horrible, especially since last week's incident." Although Sonic didn't know it, RJ's dark side was talking.

"But you told me to do that." RJ complained to himself.

"But you listened to the voices and gave in. That makes it your fault." A lighter voice, RJ's light side, said.

"I guess…"

Sonic stared, wide eyed and confused, "RJ… are you… playing around with me?"

"What are you talking about, Dad?"

"You're… talking to yourself…"

"I'm not! I'm talking to…." RJ looked around, "…them…"

Sonic shook his head, "No, you were the one responding to it, meaning you were having a full-fledged conversation with yourself."

"I was?" RJ looked around. He always felt he was really talking to someone. Maybe he wasn't.

"Don't listen to the old man RJ. Remember, we're the only ones you can trust now," The dark side cackled.

"Oh! But can he not even trust his mother?" The lighter side asked.

"No! The mother is the worst of it all! She doesn't even deserve the title "Mom" remember? She is Loretta now. Loretta the dark one. She is the root of your problems for her bad mothering skills."

Sonic opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Half of him wanted to see where this was going.

"Loretta isn't a bad mother…" RJ argued.

"Tsk, Tsk. Do you not recall what she did with you when you were young?" The lighter side chirped.

"N-no… what did she do?"

"Oh it was awful!" The dark side exclaimed, "You know how she got those angry spells, right? Some got so awful, Sonic had to take you far away for weeks while Loretta tried to hunt you down and kill you."

"No! You're lying… It never got that bad… Aunt Icee always stopped Loretta before…"

"Well one day she was too late." The dark side continued, "Poor Sonic… found beaten to a pulp in the darkest of alleys. And you, RJ, were found wrapped in a sack and tossed into the sewer. If Aunt Kaorin weren't there to defend you, you might not be here today."

"No way! Dad would never lose to Loretta! Loretta would never hurt me!" RJ argued.

"It happened, son." Sonic said silently, staring down in shame.

RJ was wide eyed, "But Dad… if she did that… why didn't you… What about… what happened?"

Sonic sighed, rubbing his hands together as if to calm his nerves. He took a deep breath and began:

"One day, when you were very young, your mother got very mad at me, RJ. She caught me staying over at Amy's house for the night and got ideas. Nothing happened of course, you were crying though and only Amy could seem to calm you down, so while Amy calmed you own, I fell asleep on the couch. Well, when I got home, the fireworks began. Loretta yelled and screamed at me, telling me the most awful things anyone's ever said. I finally saw her other form beginning to come out, so I took you and ran. I ran as fast as I could, but Loretta had gained too much anger and sped out in front of me. Amy had notified Candy and Tails after she realized what had happened, though to this day I don't know how she knew I was in danger or where I had ran.

"Anyway, Candy and Tails ran up and jumped at Loretta, calling for help. But my guardian, Faye, was busy that day and couldn't come. After taking out Tails, I ran at Loretta, giving you to Candy. Then I tried so hard, I really did, to fight her off… but I couldn't…"

Tears fell down Sonic's face and his hands flew to his face and he began to sob. RJ was shocked, almost frightened, at the behavior of his father. Sonic always seemed so strong, brave, and fearless! Yet here he was, running from his own wife. Sonic cleared his throat, continuing:

"From what I was told, after I fell out, Loretta pushed off Candy and took you. She wrapped you in a towel, saying something about never really wanting children. Then she tossed you into the sewers. After doing that, I guess maternal instincts finally kicked in and she lunged over to try to get you back. Luckily though, Candy hadn't been knocked out and she picked you out and comforted you. I never knew what happened from there, but I do know I made it out of that battle with 2 broken legs, a twisted arm, and about 84 stitches. So far Loretta hasn't gotten that angry again… but… she still… gets angry…"

Sonic shivered, and then slowly pulled his sunglasses off. Behind the dark shades, a deep cut on the side of Sonic's eye, a black left eye, and a scar covering the right eye was revealed. RJ jumped up and ran to his father's side, mouthing words of shock to himself. Sonic lifted the glasses back up as the turning of a key was heard in the door. Loretta called to the two.

"Hey! Can either of you able bodied young men open the door for me? What's it take to get a little help around here?" Loretta shouted, banging armloads of groceries against the door.

Sonic zoomed up and opened the door. "About time you got it open, slow poke." Loretta scolded.

Sonic scowled at Loretta, "Don't call me that…"

"Why not? It's what you are, isn't it, slow poke?"

"Loretta. Shut up!"

"Don't you raise your voice at me!" Loretta and Sonic were both raising their voices.

RJ, predicting a fight, ran into his room, grabbed both his pillows, and shoved them onto his head, covering his ears. Screams echoed throughout the house, getting louder. Trying to calm himself, RJ sang a little song Amy had sung to him as a lullaby:

"_In a field of paper flowers,_

_And candy clouds of lullaby,_

_You can lie inside yourself for hours,_

_And watch the purple sky fly over you."_

His lovely singing voice rang out as the fighting continued. Tears rained onto the floor from his face as the finale of the argument ended, leaving another scar across Sonic's face. RJ clutched his teeth, as if he could feel Sonic's pain as his body was thrown into the countertop, smashing the back of his head into the pans hanging off the ceiling rack. Finally, he heard it. Loretta was kicking Sonic while he lay there helplessly on the floor. He couldn't let his Dad live in fear like this! He had to react! He had to… he had to…

"Kill her," his dark side hissed.

"No! It is an unforgivable sin to kill!" the lighter side yelled, "But… maybe if it were in your father's self defense…"

That settled it. Immediately, RJ leaped out of his room and grabbed Loretta by the hair and dragged her to the ground. Loretta screamed in protest as RJ brought her to the ground. He stood above her, glaring.

"I won't let you abuse Dad like this, you bitch! All you've ever done is cause problems for Dad and me! Well I'm not taking this bull shit no more! It's over! I hate you! I've always hated you from the moment you tossed me in that sewer! I hate you, hate you, HATE YOU!" RJ then kicked his mother, who was in complete shock, and lifted up his father. Then, he took off for the only safe place that was still around.

Sophitia opened the door, seeing her younger cousin there, shivering and covered in blood, "Oh god! RJ! What happened?" Her gaze fell to Sonic, "Uncle Sonic! Mom! Dad! Come here, like, now!"

Candy and Tails rushed to the door. "Holy shit! Bro!" Candy yelled. She and Tails took him from RJ and set him on the couch. Sophitia, being trained in first aid via Girl Scouts, bandaged Sonic's wounds and gave him ice to put on his head.

"RJ. What happened to Sonic?" Tails asked, trying to keep calm. Tails has been a nervous wreck lately, and no one is really sure why. But tonight didn't seem to be helping.

"Loretta attacked him. Dad… told me about what she did to him when I was little… and what she's been doing to him all these years…"

Candy was in shock, "Why didn't Sonic tell us…"

"Loretta must've kept him silent." Tails reasoned.

RJ shook, "I kinda lost it back there… I dunno… something, or someone, in my head was telling me to… attack and stop Loretta… strange... it seems like nothing in me cares for her as a mother anymore…"

"RJ…" Sonic moaned. Everyone jumped, but RJ crawled next to his father, "RJ…. I'm… so sorry… that you saw… that…"

"No, Dad… don't be sorry. You don't have to be. It's Loretta that will be sorry."

"RJ…. Don't punish your mother… she can't… help the way she… is…"

"No Dad! She can help it. I know you've been avoiding the truth for years, but it is time to face the facts. We all know Faye could've broken that curse long ago. Hell, we could've had that psychic fix her. But no, Loretta insisted not to. And do you know why? She hates us. No, she hates me. She's probably been out to do me in since I was accidentally born."

Slowly, Candy, Tails, and Sophitia snuck out of the room. They didn't want to get mixed with this too much.

Sonic gawked. How did RJ know that his birth was never intended and that Loretta had said herself she wished she could get rid of RJ and have a daughter? The reason is that Sonic had said himself, he had siblings and didn't want to put RJ through all that, so they had agreed on a single child.

"Look, Dad. I know it's hard for you to hear someone saying you're wrong, but you were wrong in marrying Loretta, you were wrong in not telling anyone, and you were wrong in not leaving her once and for all!"

"I just couldn't do that, RJ…"

"And why not?"

Sonic looked up at RJ, his eyes shining with a look of fatherly adoration, "Because I don't want you to get hurt ever again. If I left, I know she'd be given child custody, and I never want to see her hurt you. And, despite what her wishes may have been, she does love you dearly and wishes desperately that you could love her back. Please RJ… if not for her, than for me. Just give your mother a chance…"

RJ sighed and threw on a fake smile, "Okay Dad."

Sonic smiled, "Thank… you…ugh…" He held his side in pain, lurching forward. Sophitia ran in to take a look. A deep cut had just now begun to bleed fiercely, and it was getting all over the couch. Sonic grinned slightly and looked over at Candy, "Sorry… for ruining… your sofa…"

Candy bopped him on the head playfully, "No time for being an idiot! Besides, screw the sofa, YOU'RE RUINING MY WHITE CARPET!"

Sonic, despite his pain, laughed a little, until Sophitia began to stitch the cut.

"Ow!"

"Well, uncle Sonic, hold still or I'll, like, get something way more low down than I ever want to see!"

Everyone: oO

"What?" complained Sophitia, "It's true!" She wiped some of the blood off onto her long black skirt then stuck the needle back to hold her hair up.

"Sophitia… Honey, don't do that, please?" Candy asked.

"You ain't the boss of me…" Sophitia mouthed off. She'd been acting odd for a month now, since Amy died. Her newest friend, Kitauna, was how you say, a bad influence on Sophitia. And now Sophitia comes home late at night, usually looking beaten. Candy and Tails are worried that something else may be happening to her on late nights, but they can't be too sure.

"So… tired…" moaned Sonic as his eyelids grew heavy.

Tails pat Sonic on the shoulder, "Go on and go to sleep…."

"What about… RJ…"

"We can take care of him…."

Sonic, in agreement, instantly shut his eyes and was out like a light.

Hours later after RJ and the others had gone to bed, a sound of swift footsteps echoed from outside. As they came closer, the figure of Loretta appeared. Walking up to the door, she set a note upon the doorstep and walked off into the dark, cold night.

Walking into her apartment, she tied on an apron and got a scrub bucket and sponge. Then, she began to wash off the innocent blood spilt on the floor.

After that was done, she picked up the phone, calling a friend of hers. Within minutes, a blue fox had knocked on the door.

"Wazzup?" Icee the Fox asked.

"I lost control again…" said Loretta, ashamed.

"Oh no… did you…" Icee asked, Loretta knowing what she meant.

"Yes…"

Icee covered her mouth, stifling a scream, "Does anyone know?"

"No. And I plan on keeping it that way. I'm friends with a dark angel, I can pull through…"

Suddenly, an angelic form appeared, "You ain't talking about me again, are you?"

Icee jumped, "Faye! Don't do that!"

Faye looked down mockingly, "Aw… did I scare Lil' Icee?"

Icee pushed Faye's head out of her face, "Shut it, red."

"What in hell did you just call me?" Faye vented.

Loretta pushed the two apart, "Cool it! This is serious! I mean its murder for crying out loud!"

"No one has to know, Loretta," Faye said coolly, "I already worked out a confession schedule with the big guy up top, and he's gonna give you a break."

Loretta sighed in relief, "Good… besides, that bitch had it coming. She was poisoning my child with her little "Talk" sessions…"

"Still Loretta… you sure you don't want me to remove that curse?"

"I just can't let you… if you even try to, "He" may try to get me again…"

Faye and Icee shivered. They both know about Loretta's evil father and how, at all costs, he wants to kill her. That was a main reason why she acted so evil at times.

"Well, for now, remember. If ANYONE asks about her death, we say…"

"Absolutely nothing…"

RJ woke up. The night sky still hung over the house and his father's snoring was easily heard in the next room. He pulled the blanket up over him. Strange, he shivered, yet he wasn't cold.

"Go to the front door." The dark voice called out.

"Why?" RJ asked.

"GO!"

RJ sat up and slipped on his shoes, tip-toeing to the front door, where he saw Sophitia sneaking out. He lunged out and grabbed her fox-like tail, pulling her in.

"Ow!" Sophitia cried in a shout whisper, "What the… RJ? Go back to bed!"

"What are you doing?" RJ asked, also in a whisper.

"Nothing! Mind your own business squirt!"

RJ took a step back, "You were sneaking out to get drunk again, weren't you…"

Sophitia gawked, mouth open, but then snapped it shut, "No! Where'd you get that idea?"

In his head, the voices would be telling him, "She probably wants to smoke more of her pot too… the stoner…" The dark voice cackled within.

"Oh If she mixes those together tonight, we'll never see her again!" The lighter one echoed in his ear. RJ's eye's widened.

"Sophitia, I can't let you go…"

"Why? Since when do you care?"

"…since now, okay? Just… promise you won't sneak out like this again. It's probably why Uncle Miles is talking stress medication 6 times a day! That makes him get as bad as you when you're stoned!"

Sophitia was speechless again, "Stop reading my diary! I'm leaving… Whoops!" She said, tripping on a note that had been left on the door step.

Both teens waked over at the note and opened it.

"It's from Loretta…" RJ said, scanning the note.

_Dear Sonic,_

_I've left to try to contain my anger a bit. Maybe a little time away from everyone would be good. I'll be with Faye and Icee. Here is the checkbook for all the food and stuff._

_Love,_

_Loretta_

RJ sighed and put the letter back in the envelope it came with and set it on the door-side table.

"Hm… well, at least you won't see anymore of her for now…" Sophitia said, rolling her eyes, "Now if you'll excuse me…" She headed for the door again, but a light turned on in the hallway, and this stopped her.

"Sophitia? RJ?" Candy yawned, "What're you two still doing up?" Her eyes fell to the open door, "Sophitia, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times! I forbid you to sneak out this late!"

"What do you care old lady…" Sophitia sassed.

"Don't you use that tone with me! Ugh… you have me bitching at you like a mother…"

RJ raised an eyebrow. Although Candy may be fairly old, she still had the sarcasm and humor of a teenager. "I thought you WERE a mother, Aunt Candy…"

Candy shook her head, "I'm more like a Prison Warden than a parent…" She reached out and snagged Sophitia by her fox-like ear. "So, daughter, where is it you planned to go THIS time, huh?"

Sophitia shook out of her mother's grasp, "None of your business woman. Hell, for all you know I'm not even a virgin anymore."

Candy took a breath to say something, some kind of snappy comment or punishment. But she didn't. She opened the door, "You wanna go? Fine, go. But don't expect to come back in the morning!" She pushed Sophitia out the door, threw her purse and backpack, then threw her own wallet, "Go on and rob your mother while your at it! As far as I'm concerned, you're not a daughter, you're just a petty prostitute!" And with that, she slammed the door, marched into the living room, and sobbed.

RJ was stunned. Did this ever happen before? He was tempted to look outside to see Sophitia's reaction, but she didn't need too, as Sophitia popped her head back inside.

RJ, even from how he had grown up, had expected an apology. A beg for forgiveness and her home back. But no, instead, Sophitia exclaimed, "Hey bitch, you forgot to lock your door!" and she clicked the lock and slammed the door shut.

This story may remain unfinished for a while. The creator of a few characters as appeared to have abandoned them, so their personalities and backgrounds have been lost. Even those the story may never be finished, this part alone is quite an interesting story all its own.


End file.
